Plot Synopsis

Snuff Box is a clever blend of sitcom and sketch comedy starring Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher, a pair best known for their supporting roles in other recent Brit comedies including The Mighty Boosh, Garth Merenghi's Darkplace and The IT Crowd. The pair star as themselves, albeit in the world where the pair are hangmen who spend their days lounging around a gentleman's club that is owned by Matt's family. Weaved between, and occasionally into, scenes of ongoing plot are all manner of mock advertisements, music videos and other one-shot sketches. The "plot" itself is rarely much more than an extended sketch, though a loose story thread carries between episodes.

The humour of the show stems largely from the personality of its two leads. Matt Berry is a public school educated (in the British sense) cad, who wastes his life away indulging on base pleasures in between cheating Rich out of his steady stream of income from a deceased relative. Rich Fulcher is a naive, and slightly crass, American who aspires to be part of society and is rather inappropriately mentored by Matt about the ways of the world.

The show thrives on recurring sketches. The pair carry on all manner of light conversation as they hang all manner of sorry fellows. Rich frequently finds himself heading through a door at the back of the club to the year 1888, where Matt's great grandfather gives him advice on his problems and ultimately winds up showering him with Victorian prostitutes. Matt repeatedly finds himself assaulted by shop assistants in a trendy clothing store as he attempts to buy silver cowboy boots. The pair find themselves in all manner of strange situations as they step through doors in the mysterious white corridor that leads to their hanging chamber. Matt charms all manner of lasses only to find they have boyfriends, at which point he lets his real personality through.

Snuff Box is hilarious stuff. It is very offbeat, and manages a delicate balance of mature and extremely immature. This certainly isn't one for the kiddies, but definitely a cult comedy series worth checking out if you have liked The Mighty Boosh or Garth Merenghi's Darkplace.

This set includes all six episodes of the show's first season, each about 28 minutes in length, spread across two single-layer discs (why it isn't on a single dual layer disc is a mystery).

Transfer Quality

Video

The show is presented in its original a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, not the 1.33:1 aspect stated on the packaging, and is 16x9 enhanced.

The video quality is fair, but features a number of irritating video artefacts.

The image is reasonably sharp and clear. No grain is noticeable, however mild low-level noise is noticeable throughout the entirety of the series.

The colour in the video appears a little muted by modern standards, however this appears to be fairly deliberate as the show often appears to be going for the look of BBC production in the 1980s (particularly during its mock period pieces).

The video is marred by mild to moderate aliasing in pretty much every scene. Whilst the degree varies between scenes it is noticeable at all times and occasionally distracting. Mild macro blocking is noticeable in many of the backgrounds, however it is generally not distracting. There are no noticeable film artefacts in the video.

No subtitles are present for the show.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness

Shadow Detail

Colour

Grain/Pixelization

Film-To-Video Artefacts

Film Artefacts

Overall

Audio

A single English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 Kbps) audio track is present for the show. Whilst it is a pretty basic soundtrack, it serves the show well.

The dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout the course of the show. The studio appears to be well synchronised to the video.

The music used in the show is almost entirely by Matt Berry. The show breaks into the same handful of funky pop tunes at all kinds of moments. The songs themselves don't really mean much, but seem to fit well whenever they are use.

There is no noticeable surround or subwoofer usage in the soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue

Audio Sync

Clicks/Pops/Dropouts

Surround Channel Use

Subwoofer

Overall

Extras

There are no extras at all.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view
non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually
also NTSC compatible.

The only alternative version of Snuff Box available is in Region 2, UK, and it is the the clear winner in this comparison. Whereas the Region 4 edition includes no extras (which the distrinutor has informed us is due to rights issues), the Region 2 version includes:

Inside The Snuff Box (18 minutes of behind the scenes footage)

Outtakes

Commentaries for episodes 1, 2 and 6

Soundtrack (all the songs from the show playable on their own)

Stills gallery

Summary

A hilarious offbeat comedy series from Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher, a pair best known for their supporting roles in other recent Brit comedies including The Mighty Boosh, Garth Merenghi's Darkplace and The IT Crowd.

The video suffers from a number of distracting video issues, most notably aliasing, but is of a generally acceptable standard. The audio is basic, but certainly good enough for the show.

This set includes no extras, which is a shame given the ample extras found on the Region 2 edition.